Out of all the teams in Spain’s top flight, Getafe are not the most exciting. Whilst Barcelona are known for their philosophy, Real Madrid for their superstars, Athletic Bilbao for their dogged physicality, Getafe are… well, just Getafe.Despite not being a particularly glamorous club, they have done well in recent years to remain in the top division, fluctuating between the top half and lower ends of the La Liga table spectrum.
They have managed to qualify for the Europa League since the turn of the century, and had a brief period of success, in which players such as Roberto Soldado and Dani Parejo, now at Spurs and Valencia respectively, were major influences for the Madrid side.
However, now things seem to have fallen a little flat. Like many clubs outside the top three or four teams, they are struggling financially. The Coliseum de Alfonso Pérez ground has a small capacity and is rarely full due to high ticket prices. They are a pleasant family club, but are in need of new ideas, and seem slightly lost in La Liga, floating around in the bottom half of the table.
Getafe play a very simple game. They have no specific style although generally they rely on the conviction of wingers such as Pedro León and Diego Castro to provide deliveries into the box for players to attack. Defensively they are average, but it is their offensive game that is letting them down. In the season that has just passed, they only managed to score more than two goals in a single league match on one occasion, ironically to Real Madrid in the last game of the season in which they lost 7-3.
We must remember that Getafe are a relatively young club. The club have a brand that is slowly beginning to grow, and this growth will continue every year they remain in La Liga.
Nevertheless, if they have serious ambitions of becoming better known to those outside of Spain, they need to be progressing further up the table.
We have seen in recent years how teams can plummet from relative safety to relegation, so if Getafe are to dodge the harsh realities of top flight football, they need to set out on a new plan which should propel Getafe to bigger and better things.
